Color labels

Seven colors that match Finder, applied to assets, projects, and tags

Color labels are the fastest way to add structure without writing a tag. Seven colors, the same seven Finder uses, with one job: tell you which thing is which at a glance.

The seven

Gray, green, purple, blue, yellow, red, orange. That's the set. The text on each label auto-picks black or white depending on how bright the label is, so it always reads.

The colors don't mean anything by default. Pick a system that fits the project: green for selects and red for kills, or one color per interview subject, or one color for each chapter of a longer cut. Whatever helps you scan the grid faster.

What they apply to

A color label can sit on:

• An asset in the Library (one label per clip).
• A Paper Edit project.
• A Mosaic project.
• A tag, so the tag itself shows up in your color of choice.

One label per thing. They're not stackable; that's what tags are for.

Setting and clearing

Three ways:

• Inspector: click the label row on the right pane and pick.
• Right-click any tile or project: Color Label, pick a color.
• Keyboard from the grid: Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+7 sets the label in palette order (gray, green, purple, blue, yellow, red, orange). Ctrl+0 clears.

The keyboard is the one to learn. Once you've assigned a system, walking the grid with arrow keys and tapping Ctrl+2 or Ctrl+5 is faster than reaching for a menu.

Filtering by label

In the Library, the filter bar takes a label as a filter. Pair that with a transcript search and you'll find the green-tagged clip where someone says "frame rate" without scrolling.

A small rule that saves time: pick your color system once, then leave it. Reassigning what red means halfway through a project is the same kind of pain as renaming a folder.